Artist Christian Rupp addresses people in a public place, inviting them to drink a beer together with a second person, unknown to them, whom he has found in the same way. He attempts to bring together couples that he thinks would probably never get into conversation of their own accord, who may perhaps have prejudices against the respective other. Of course, the selections are also based on Rupp’s own prejudices, as he does not know these people yet.

Two steins of beer stand on a  beergarden table that has been prepared in advance with a slit through the middle, covered by a table-cloth. A tube under the table connects the two steins, so that they become communicating vessels in the physical sense. And so if one is lifted up, the level of liquid balances out to the same level in the other. As a rule, the participants only notice this when they make their first attempt to drink. This surprise leads quite reliably to a relaxed and humorous situation.

It is almost impossible, therefore, to raise only one’s own glass to drink. Enjoying a beer is reliant on cooperation with the other participant. The communicating beer vessels lead to the two drinkers also becoming communicators. The beer table – often a table for regulars, sometimes also a place for the perpetuation of prejudices and seclusion from strangers – is often associated with belonging to a precisely defined group. In the setting of Communicating Beer Vessels it promotes the approach between strangers. The necessity for cooperation, being in the same boat, a situation that bears the inherent potential for comedy, invites encounters in this context.

Based on the project description by Christian Rupp